The World Bank Group on Tuesday announced a financial aid of up to $500 million to Nepal for reconstruction following the April earthquake. The announcement was made ahead of an international donor conference here on Thursday, The Himalayan Times reported. According to the government, the April 25 temblor caused damage worth $500 million to physical […]
The district magistrate-level meeting of India and Bangladesh, to be held on June 24 in Chittagong in Bangladesh, has been postponed as most of the Indian officials do not have passports. “The district magistrate-level meeting of India and Bangladesh has been postponed as most of the district-level officials have no passport,” a Tripura home department […]
A self-proclaimed atheist from Turkey’s southeastern province of Adiyaman, was forced to leave his hometown after receiving death threats for removing “Islam” from the religious affiliation section of his national identity card, media reported on Tuesday. The threats began on May 21, with the man receiving two letters containing death threats and his house being […]
A mob in an open market in China’s Guangxi province hit out at a group of animal rights activists who were protesting against an annual dog meat festival, CNN reported on Tuesday. “Don’t you eat beef? If you stop eating beef, then we’ll stop eating dog meat,” a man yelled at the activists in the […]
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday participated in the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday celebrations, and said the Tibetan spiritual leader was an “apostle of peace and struggle”. Virbhadra Singh wished the elderly Buddhist monk a healthy and long life. “The Dalai Lama is a revered leader and a preacher of peace, tranquillity and […]
Title: The Spinner’s Tale ; Author: Omar Shahid Hamid; Publisher: Pan Macmillan India; Pages: 308; Price: Rs.399 The debate about whether criminals are born or made can be extended to terrorists too, and assumes greater significance given the indiscriminate death and destruction they deal in. For it is important to understand what can make certain […]
Title: Sri Lanka: The New Country; Author: Padma Rao Sundarji; Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India; Pages: 322; Price: Rs.499. This is a book of courage. Padma Rao Sundarji, a versatile New Delhi-based journalist who covered the Sri Lanka conflict over the years, finds it disgusting that Western countries conveniently overlook the deaths of thousands they cause […]
The International Day of Yoga (IDY) celebrations here sought to symbolize the unity of humanity as people from around the world gathered Sunday in unique observance of an Indian proposal sponsored by 177 nations and endorsed by all 193 UN members. People of all races and religions, nationalities and political persuasions joined to perform the […]
There are 47 Islamic nations among the 177 countries of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that officially co-sponsored with India a resolution to establish June 21 as “International Day of Yoga”. Yoga is a 5,000-year-old physical, mental and spiritual practice rooted in Hindu tradition, a religious origin that has caused disquiet among some Indian […]
The operation Zarb-e-Azb (Sharp and Cutting) launched against the Taliban a year ago in western Pakistan has killed nearly 3,000 alleged insurgents. It has also caused a decrease in terrorist attacks, while several thousand families have been displaced. For a year, Pakistan has bombarded its North Waziristan province, a region traditionally outside the control of […]